Black Beauty

I got out to see this girl today:

Such a pretty little thing

She was still out in the field when I arrived, which was nice. First impressions were excellent - gorgeous pony, easy to catch, nice to lead. Less mature physically than I thought, though...definitely still a lot of growing and filling out to do. (Somehow I had got the impression she is turning four, when in reality she just turned 3 in May) So, that right there was a bit of a let down since I was already thinking 4 was much younger and greener than my not-so-brave-anymore self would prefer!

As is the way, (do they ever behave when a potential buyer comes to see? :), pony was having a no good, very bad day. Not overly impressed with being tied, rude about her feet, and focused on everything but her handler. In short, acting like a bratty 3 year old. The poor girl showing her to me! Pony has been well handled and attended numerous shows in her short life, so I hope she was just having a silly baby tantrum kind of day.

She lunged her quickly, so I got to see her beautiful movement. She moves like a much bigger horse - tons of potential there for someone wanting to do dressage. She got on and rode, but pony's attention was elsewhere and focus was an issue. She was really spooky about some birds in the arena and some stuff going on outside, and showed off some moves I'm glad I didn't have to ride. She did eventually settle in and showed that same really nice movement and balance under saddle. She was fairly well behaved walk, trot, and canter and was really careful through some ground poles. 

I'll be honest, by this point I think I knew this wasn't the horse for me. I got on for a quick ride anyway, but pony was pretty tired by that point. I just walked and trotted. The forward button was stickier than I expected, I think partly because she was tired, and partly because she is a Welsh - they tend to be much more sensible than they outwardly appear when you actually get in the saddle. As the girl showing her to me said, she looks quite hot and forward from the ground, but she's actually more of a push along sort of ride. She felt a little behind my leg honestly, which I'm really not a fan of - especially with a spooky horse. Size (14.1hh) felt perfect, type of ride really reminiscent of Ginger and so similar to what she was like as a 4 year old. The ride actually made me like her a lot more than before.

Pretty pony, but I don't look happy lol

Final impressions? Beautiful, amazing prospect for someone, but not for me at this point in time. No reflection on this pony - she's a really nice girl, just still way more of a baby than I'd like. Honestly, the age alone was probably a deal breaker. I think some things might have got lost in translation, because while lovely, she wasn't at all what I was expecting or looking for. She's certainly quieter than Ginger, but I'd like to take it down a few more notches yet and have something pretty chilled out. With time she might be that, but I already have a project who needs time :) I did leave it open to go back towards the end of the summer to see her again once she has more miles on her, but now that I've thought a little more (and her gorgeous self is out of my direct line of vision), both my mind and my gut are saying she's not the one. Someone else needs to go pick her up and make a superstar out of her, she'd be wasted on me :) If anyone out there is interested, I can send you the farm info - they seem like nice people who would be easy to deal with.